Ticket storage and issuing equipment



Nov. 3, 1953 y c. F. WEBB 2,557,750

TICKET STORAGE AND .TssUTNG EQUIPMENT Filed July le, 194e JNVENTOR.CHRISTOPHER E WEBB ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1953 TICKET STORAGE ANDISSUING EQUIPMENT f Christopher Frederick Webb, London, England, assgnorto General Register Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y., a corporationof New York Application July 16, 1948, Serial No. 38,989

Claims priority, application Great Britainy July 16, 1947 This inventionrelates to hand operated machines for storing and issuing preprintedtearoi tickets, using a supply thereof in the form of a continuousstrip.

An object of the invention is vto provide an improved construction forsuch machines, applicable equally to "single denomination machine inwhich tickets of one denomination (in respect of destination, price,travel class, etc.) only are stored and issued and vplural denominationmachines in which tickets of a number of denominations are stored andissued, which will be marked by simplicity and fewness of Working partsand ease, speed and certainty of operation as compared with machines atpresent in use, for example, machines in which the ticket-forming stripis fed to the tear-off point by a feed wheel engaging the strip by pinson its periphery cooperating with spaced holes in the strip.

More particularly, however, the invention aims to provide an improvedticket storing and issuing equipment for use in railway and like bookingofces, where as is known provision has to be made for storing landissuing tickets of a large number of different denominations and in re-:1

spect of each denomination a large number of tickets.

Heretofore in such equipment it has been the practice to use preprintedtickets and to store these in groups according to their denominations,in vertical ticket racks arranged in convenient positions around thespace occupied by the booking clerk. This practice has many drawbacks,among which are, that the ticket racks have to be of relatively largesuperficial area as regards the collective forwardly presented face ofthe racks; that it is a relatively easy matter to misplace a ticket in arack or deliberately to extract one therefrom, with resultinginterference in either case with accurate continuity in the serialtclaims. (C1. 1er-84.5)

numbers of the tickets as issued from the equipsimple and effectualmanner and provides an equipment which has a much larger storagecapacity` than the known ticket rack systems, is so constructed as tomake it impossible to misplace or extract ra ticket and is also soconstructed as to afford a high measure of protection for the ticketsstored in the machine against dust and the like from the atmosphere.

According to the broadest aspect of the invention, a hand-operatedmachine for storing and issuing preprinted tear-off tickets comprises amagazine to hold a supply of such tickets in continuous zig-zag or rollstrip form, from which supply the tickets are drawn, by manual effortapplied directly to the ticket in course of being issued, to a tear-offpoint at the exterior of the machine, whereat, upon a ticket having beentorn off, the leading end of the next following ticket is exposed so asto be accessible for manipulation in the next following operation of themachine, and a manually releasable means for automatically locking saidfollowing ticket against further movement in the direction past thetearoff point during the tearing olf of the ticket in course of beingissued and thereafter until said next following operation of themachine.

y Further, according to the invention, a handoperatedV machine forstoring and issuing preprinted tear-off tickets of a number of differentdenominations, for example, such a machine for use in railway and likebooking offices, comprises a plurality of complete storing and issuingunits allocated respectively to the several denominations and eachconsisting of a magazine and a manually releasable means as recitedabove, the several units being preferably housed collectively in anenclosing casing therefor upon the interior structure of which they arerespectively supported.

Further according to the invention, the manually releasable means ispreferably arranged to lock the ticket also against movement in thedirection away from the tear-oil point.

The form of the manually releasable` means may varyv widely. Accordingto a preferred form of the invention, however, the manually releasablemeans locks the ticket by pressing it against a fixed surface in itspath in rear of the tear-olf point, for example, as in the particularembodiment of the invention, hereinafter described, by means of a spragmechanism spring loaded in the direction to'move the parts of themechanism to the effective (ticket-locked) position.

Further according to the invention, the manually releasable means may bearranged to be released by actuation of a release member which is sopositioned as to be capable of being manipulated by the thumb and fingerof the hand by which in the operation of the machine the ticket to beissued is pulled tothe tear-olf position.

Preferably, again as in the particular embodiment of the inventionhereinafter described, the magazine and the manually releasable meansform together a self-contained unit which as such and with the supply oftickets in position in the magazine, is insertable into and Withdrawablefrom position in the machine.

Further according to the invention, the mag.- azine of suchself-contained unit may be formed as an open tray adapted to accommodatethe supply of tickets snugly between the side walls thereof.

The invention will now be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred constructional formof the invention as applied to an equipment for use in railway and likebooking offices, replacing the present ticket rack systems in usetherein.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the upper part of a sectionof the machine with cer- 'tain parts broken away to show theconstruction;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the equipment showing theupper of two .adjacent sections thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through one of the unitsof the machine, at the front thereof;

Figure 4 -is a fragmentary side elevation of one of the units at thefront thereof;

Figure 5 is a corresponding plan view to Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 6 is a section through Figure 3 on the section line 5-6 thereof,looking in the direction towards the front ofthe uni-t; and

Figure '7 is an end View of a unit, looking in the :direction of thearrow in Figure 4.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the various iigures ofthe drawings.

The complete equipment would comprise a number of vertical sections asshown in Figure l disposed, for example., side by side. There may be anynumber of such sections, according to the required storage capacity ofthe equipment, either in respect of the number of ticket denominationsto be accommodated or in respect of number of tickets to be stored perdenomination, or in respect of both of these factors regard being had,of course, to the number of denominations accommodated per section. inV.a similar way, the number of denominations accommodated per sec tion,which is equal to the number of self-contained units as hereinbeforereferred to therein, may be varied by varying the over-all height of thesection, the arrangement in mind being one in which all of the units ofthe equipment are of the same design, construction and dimensions so asto be mutually V in-torchangcable with one another as regards positionin the machine. Conveniently, in the case of an equipment for a raiiwaybooking office, there .may be four or five units in the section, eachunit being designed to 'hold When the magazine `of the uni-t is full, asupply of said 500 tickets of the standard railway width, in which casea capacity of the equipment of nearly 18,000 tickets per square foot ofwall area occupied by the equipment, or more than five times thecapacity of the conventional ticket racks of an equal area, is readilyobtainable with the improved equipment of the invention.

The particular construction illustrated in Figure 2 is one in which thesections are incorporated together in a single casing, which for thispurpose is divided interiorly by one or more ver tical partitionsaccording to the number of sec tions to be embodied in the casing. ifdesired,

Y rear wall 3 and at the top an upper wall 4 so providing a casing whichis closed by wall members on all sides except at the front.

The wall members of the casing are composed of sheet metal and theinterior space of each section of the casing is divided vertically ofthe casing into, say four or ve spaces 5, 6, 1, etc., in each of whichis a self-contained ticket storing and issuing unit as hereinbeforereferred to.

As already remarked, all of the units of the machine are of identicaldesign, construction and dimensions. Consequently, it will suice todescribe only one of them in what follows.

As shown, a unit comprises a magazine `for the supply of tickets, in theform .of an opent-ray having a bottom wall 8, two side walls 9, I9 and arear wall II, the supply of tickets, which 'is of the zig-zag continuousstrip form and is marked I2, being accommodated in the tray between therear wall II thereof .and an upstanding .ilange I3 near the forward endof the tray. The width of the tray is slightly greater than the width`of the tickets, with the result that the supply l2 thereof fitsnuglybetween the side walls 8. l0 of the tray.

At the front end the bottom wall 8 of the :tray is prolonged beyond theVflange I3 so as to proj-ect beyond the line in profile at the front ofthe casing, .as .shown clearly -in Figure l. The for- Ward end edge I4of the bottom wall provides the tear-ofi point of the unit, ashereinbefore referred to, along which the tickets are torn oli afterhaving been brought to the tear-off position.

A ticket forming strip is drawn from the sul?- ply l2 thereof in vrea-rof the flange I3 to the tear-off position, at which it is torn olf alonga score line., A, formed in the ticket, over an upper guide roller I5,under two lower guide rollers I6, I'I and then forward to thetearing-off position. When the strip is at the tear-off position thescore line A is coincident with (i. e., vertically above) the forwardedge I4 of the bottom wall 8 of the tray, which forward edge, therefore,constitutes the tear-off point aforesaid of the unit.

The upper roller I5 is freely revoluble on a nxed spindle I9 which, asshown, overhangs the part lof the mechanism of the unit below, from anupstanding lug 28 integral with the side wall I0 of the tray, thespindle being carried by this lug. The lower rollers I5, II are freelyrevoluble on a fixed spindle 2l affixed at the two ends thereof to theside walls :8, 9 of the tray, the end of the spindle at the side of thetray whereat the lug 26 is situated projecting a short distance from theWall e for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The strip having been drawn to the tear-ofi position, the ticket incourse of being issued, which is marked 22, the next following ticketbeing marked 23, is torn off along the score line A as already describedand While it is being torn off, the said next following ticket 23 islocked against movement in either direction, towards the 'tear-oif point(edge i4) or away from it, by a double-acting sprag mechanism ashereinbefore referred to, which also maintains its action upon the stripduring the intervals between successive operations of the unit.

This `sprag mechanism comprises a forwardly directed sprag 24 whichoperates to prevent rearward movement of the ticket and a rearwardlydirected sprag 25 which operates to prevent forward movement of theticket. During movement of the ticket forming strip to the tear-olfposition the sprag 25 is in a released (disengaged) position in whichits elective edge is raised'clear of the face of the strip and the sprag24, being forwardly directed, allows the strip to move past itsubstantially unrestrained. It will be understood of course, that thesprags operate by pressing the strip against the upwardly presented faceof the bottom wall 8 of the tray.

The sprag 24 is constituted by a single centrally disposed leg portionof a U-shaped stirrup 26 mounted for free pivotal movement upon thespindle ZI between the two guide rollers I6, II thereon.

The sprag 25 is constituted by downwardly directed leg portions of abent plate of which the upper part in the plane of the leg portions ismarked 2l and the portion bent out of said plane .(see Figure 3) ismarked 28. The part 28 is formed at the two lateral extremities thereofwith pivots 29, 30 by which the plate is pivotally mounted upon a pairof lugs 3l, 32 formed upon the side walls 9, IIJ of the tray at theforward end thereof, the pivots 29, 30 being received in holes in thelugs in the manner shown.

The sprags are yieldingly coupled in such a manner as normally tomaintain them in effective position in relation to the strip, .by atension spring 33 anchored at one end to the stirrup incorporating thesprag 24 at a point thereon so situated as to bring the line of thespring to a position in rear of the spindle 2I and at the other end toan eye projecting rearwardly from the aforesaid upper part of the bentplate incorporating the two legs that form the sprag 25.

The sprag mechanism is released, to free the ticket to be issued, namelythe ticket 23, by a manually operable release device.

This device comprises an inverted U-shaped stirrup 34` pivoted at thelower end of the side limbs thereof, by pivots 35, 36 projectinglaterally from the edges of the bottom wall 8 of the tray into holesprovided to receive them in the said side limbs, to said bottom wall soas to have a -freedom for angular movement in a vertical plane towardsandaway from a tongue 31 on the bent plate carrying the elements of thesprag 25, said tongue being formed by a portion of said plate bentforwardly from the general plane of the plate and then downwardly asshown in Figure 3.

Extending across the space between the two side limbs of the stirrup 34and ailiXed at the ends to said side limbs is a rod 38 and when the unitis at rest, in readiness for the next ticket issuing operation, with thesprag mechanism in the effective (ticket-locked) condition, the rod 38is just clear of the tongue 3T.

Mounted upon the stirrup 34 is a pressure plate 39, the forwardlypresented portion of which is so positioned relatively to the leadingedge of the ticket (23) in readiness to be issued in the next operationof the unit, as to be accessible to the thumb or a finger of the samehand as that by which the ticket (23) is pulled to the tear-offposition, the manipulation of the pressure plate 39, which is therebymoved in the rearward direction with consequent movement of the sprag 25to the released position, being performed by pressure from said thumb oriinger applied during the ticket towards the tear-off position, whichwithdrawing movement is performed by pulling upon the leading edge ofthe ticket.

Projecting forwardly from the side limbs of the stirrup 34 is an arm 4I!carrying at the free (forward) end thereof a downwardly directed nger4I. This iinger constitutes a feeler and it is lifted and loweredrespectively as the stirrup is moved about its pivots.

When the unit is at rest, with a ticket (23) in position in readiness tobe issued, the finger 4| protrudes through what is virtually a notch 42in the leading edge of the said ticket, said notch being constituted byone half of a perforation in the strip, positioned on the score line (A)thereof, which perforation is one of a series thereof formed in thestrip at ticket-length intervals therealong, and the arrangement is suchthat with the nger in this position, the rod 38 is clear of the tongue3l so as to relieve the sprag 25 from all pressure from the stirrup 34such as would tend to move it away from the effective (ticket-locked)position. The arrangement is further such that when the pressure plate39 is pressed back in the manner above described the finger 4I is raisedclear of the path of the ticket in course of being issued so as topermit the ticket to be pulled out to the tear-oii position. Thepressure plate having thus been pressed back Aand the pulling out of theticket having been commenced, to the extent of bringing the portion ofthe ticket in rear of the notch 42 under the point of the finger 4 l,the pressure upon the pressure plate can be removed, as although thenger will then return towards the lowered (ticketlocked) position, itwill be prevented from actually reaching that position, so as to lockthe strip against forward movement, by the intervention between it andthe wall 8 of the tray of said portion of the ticket in course of beingissued. The ticket, therefore, remains free (unlocked) until such timeas the tear-olf position is reached, whereupon the next aperture in thestrip comes under the feeler so as to allow the latter to complete itsreturn movement to the lowered position, with consequential return ofthe sprag mechanism also to the effective (ticketlocked) condition. Thestrip is now relocked in readiness for the tearing off of the ticket incourse of being issued and in this condition it remains until the nextticket issuing operation of the unit.

At the end of the lateral edges of the bottom wall 8 of the tray,abreast of the portion of the wall adjacent the tear-off edge I4 are apair of upstanding lugs 43, 44. These provide abutments against which inthe tearing oi of a ticket the lateral edge of the next following ticketmay abut so as by being held against lateral displacement to assist inthe tearing off operation.

To assist in getting hold of the leading edge of the ticket (23) at thecommencement of a ticket issuing operation, a notch 45 is provided inthe bottom wall 8 of the tray, leading from the tear-off edge I4, and toaccommodate the movement of the feeler (nger 4i) a small notch 46 isalso provided in said bottom wall, adjacent the notch 45.

In loading the unit with its supply of tickets the leading end of thestrip is first threaded under the guide rollers i8, Il and thence pastthe sprags 24, 25 (the sprag 25 being, by manual pressure upon thepressure plate 39, in the ineffective position) to a position in whichits leading edge is coincident with the tear-off edge I4.

commencement of withdrawing movement ofthe 7.5 The sprag mechanism isthen allowed to reassume the effective condition, whereupon the saidleading end of the strip, as regards the portion thereof in rear of thelower guide rollers I6, il `is manipulated into position over the upperguide roller l5., -by way of the space between the outer (overhang-ing)end of the roller I and the lower roller i6.

Conveniently, in the use of this uni-t, a fresh supply of tickets may beattached to the tail end of the supply already in the prior to issuance.of the last ticket of that supply, the .leading end -of the firstticket of the fresh supply being attached to the trailing end of thelast ticket of the supply already in the unit, for example, by a gummedtab, which can be supplied with the zig-zag pack. Also provision may bemade for automatically indicating when the time has come to insert afresh supply, for example, the last 100 or so tickets may be marked witha colored line or other marking for this purpose.

Each unit is slidably mounted inthe casing upon a centrally disposedrail d? and cross tubes 48 threaded onto rods 13S extending across theinterior spaces of the casing from side wall to side wall thereof andtherefore through the partition (or partitions) in the particularconstruction illustrated, the uni-t being slidable to and from positionin the casing by the front thereof, which for the purpose is devoid of awall member although normally closed by a series of aps 50 disposed oneopposite each interior unit-occupied space (5, 6, '1, etc.) of thecasing.

These flaps serve three purposes. Firstly, they serve to close the saidspaces 5, B, etc., thereby insuring against access of dust and the liketo the tickets in the units from the external atmosphere. Secondly, 'bylying along their lower edges, immediately above the upwardly presentededges of the lugs 3l, 32 on the side walls of the trays of therespective units, they serve to lock the units at the front end thereofagainst upward displacement from normal position in the casing. Thirdly,they provide in the case of each flap a surface upon which may bewritten or otherwise marked, or carried, identification data relative tothe tickets in the unit behind the flap.

The flaps are maintained in the normal position by retaining springs 5Ihaving lever arms 52 which communicate the tension of the spring to thefiap and serve also as a clip to hold against the face of the flap saya, loose ticket. The flaps are located in the normal position bylaterally projecting lugs 53 on the edge of the iiap so positioned as tobe capable of engaging the forwardly presented edge of the side wall (2)or partition (I) of the casing at the side of the flap at which the lugis disposed thereon.

When a unit is in normal position in the casing the projecting end ofthe spindle 2l occupies a position at the bottom of an inverted L-shapednotch E4 in the side wall 2 or partition l of the casing, in which it iseffective to lock the unit against forward (withdrawal.) movementrelatively to the casing. As shown, the lower edge of the horizontalportion of the notch 54 slopes downwardly and curves smoothly into thegeneral line of the edge of the wall or partition. This enables the saidprojecting end of the spindle 2l to slide automatically into position inthe notch as the unit is pushed home in the operation of inserting aunit. To withdraw a unit, the latter is lifted slightly and then drawnforwardly, with the corresponding fiap 50 held in a raised position.

When a ticket (23) is in issuing position in E that unit, its serialnumber is plainly visible just in rear of the score line A, as appearsfrom Figure 5.

Obviously, many modifications as .regards structural details arepossible. For example., the details of the locking means .for theticket-forming strip may be different from those employed in theparticular construction described, as also may the details of therelease mechanism for these means. Or the form of the magazine elementof the self-contained unit may be different from that used in sai-dparticular construction, although it may be remarked that that form lhasnumerous advantages, for example affords great facility for theoperation of loading the unit with tickets and gives a 'constructionwhich is light in weight and also inexpensive to manufacture, for whichreasons it is a generally preferred construction to employ in carryingthe invention into effect.

It will be understood that a single denomination machine in accordancewith this invention would differ from a plural denomination machinesimply in that it comprises one ticket storing and issuing unit only,which could either be a .self-contained unit insertable into andwithdrawable as such from an enclosing casing, ora unit built into thecasing.

In the case of a construction employing a ticket supply in roll form thegeneral design,

arrangement and manner of operation of thev machine would be the same as.for a machine using a supply of the zig-zag form, except that themagazine would be designed to take a roll, which would rest loosely on.the bottom wall of the magazine, instead of a zig-zag pack. Gen.-erally speaking, however, it is preferable, especially for equipment foruse in railway and like booking offices, to employ ticket supplies ofthe zig-zag form, or with such form the necessary vertical height of themagazine to hold the supplies can be reduced to a figure only a littlegreater than the length of the tickets to be issued, as in theparticular embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described and shownin the drawings, whereas with a supply in roll form .the necessaryvertical height of the magazine to accommodate the roll (assuming a rollcontaining the same number of tickets as the zig-zag pack) would be veryconsiderably greater than the length of a ticket.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A ticket storage and issuing machine comprising a ticket stripstorage compartment, a tear-off edge exposing the leading edge of thenext ticket for withdrawal, clamping means normally engaging the ticketstrip and preventing Withdrawal of the strip from the storagecompartment, clamping means preventing retrograde motion of the strip,manually operated means for releasing the first mentioned clamping meansfrom engagement with the strip to permit withdrawal of the strip, andindexing means engaging the strip and responsive to voids in the stripfor rendering the releasing means inoperative, the arrangement beingsuch that the first mentioned clamping means is disengaged from thestrip upon manual operation of the releasing means and acts to engagethe strip upon operation of the indexing means in response to voids inthe strip.

2. In combination, ticket strip storing and issuing magazines eachcomprising a ticket strip storage compartment, a tear-off edge exposingthe leading edge of the next ticket for WithdraWal, clamping meansnormally engaging the ticket strip and preventing Withdrawal of thestrip from the storage compartment, clamping means preventing retrogrademotion of the strip, manually operated means for releasing the rstmentioned clamping means from engagement with the strip to permitwithdrawal of the strip, and indexing means engaging the strip andresponsive to voids in the strip for rendering the releasing meansinoperative, the arrangement being such that the rst mentioned clampingmeans is disengaged from the strip upon manual operation of thereleasing means and acts to engage the strip upon operation of theindexing means in response to voids in the strip; and a compartmentedcasing into which said magazines are inserted.

3. A ticket storage and issuing machine comprising a ticket stripstorage compartment, clamping means normally bearing against the ticketstrip and holding the strip to prevent forward motion of the strip,indexing means engaging the ticket strip and responsive to voids in theticket strip, the indexing means holding the clamping means from thestrip during Withdrawal of the ticket strip and releasing the clampingmeans upon completion of Withdrawal of a ticket, thereby properlypositioning the ticket strip during tear-off of withdrawn tickets.

4. In combination, ticket storage and issuing magazines each comprisinga ticket strip storage compartment, clamping means normally bearingagainst the ticket strip and holding the strip to prevent forward motionof the strip, indexing means engaging the ticket strip and responsive tovoids in the ticket strip, the indexing means holding the clamping meansfrom the strip during Withdrawal of the ticket strip and releasing theclamping means upon completion of Withdrawal of a ticket, therebyproperly positioning the ticket strip during tear-off of Withdrawntickets; and a compartmented casing collectively housing said magazines.

5. A ticket storage and issuing machine comprising a ticket stripstorage compartment, means normally clamping the ticket strip andpreventing Withdrawal of the strip from the storage compartment,indexing means engaging the strip and responsive to voids in the strip,and means manually actuated for disengaging said clamping means from thestrip to permit Withdrawal of the strip, said indexing means acting tohold said clamping means disengaged from the strip during Withdrawal ofa portion of the strip and acting in response to a void in the strip torelease the clamping means to permit the clamping means to engage andclamp the strip and arrest withdrawal thereof.

6. In combination, ticket strip storing and issuing magazines eachcomprising a ticket strip storage compartment, means normally clampingthe ticket strip and preventing withdrawal of the strip from the storagecompartment, indexing means engaging the strip and responsive to voidsin the strip, and means manually actuated for disengaging said clampingmeans from the strip to permit withdrawal of the strip, said indexingmeans acting to hold said clamping means disengaged from the stripduring Withdrawal of a portion of the strip and acting in response to aVoid in the strip to release the clamping means to permit the clampingmeans to engage and clamp the strip and arrest Withdrawal thereof; and acompartmented casing into which said magazines are inserted.

CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK WEBB.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 767,610 Townsend Aug. 16, 1904 906,110 Covington Dec. 8, 1908906,835 Vargyas Dec. 15, 1908 1,124,577 Allen Jan. 12, 1915 1,303,278Field May 13, 1919 1,332,194 Arcus Mar. 2, 1920 1,598,919 McDonald Sept.7, 1926 1,787,882 Uttz Jan. 6, 1931 2,246,228 Winter June 17, 1941

